


A Work in Progress

by Kadenwalsh



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Military OFC, Multi, OFC (Veteran), Slow Burn, Thruple, idk yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-06
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-04-11 13:13:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19110397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kadenwalsh/pseuds/Kadenwalsh
Summary: You and Sam Wilson have been best friends since middle school. The two of you were in the military at the same time, and are now living in DC together. One day you meet Steve Rogers and your normal civilian life becomes a lot less normal.





	1. Chapter 1

Sam Wilson was one of your oldest friends; it was hard to picture a life where he wasn't in it. The two of you had been inseparable since middle school when some 8th grader threw him into a trash can, and you punched him in the face. That ended with the three of you in the principal's office and a two-day suspension which you somehow talked both you and Sam out of. When you both confided in the other about joining the military, neither of you were surprised. He had joined the Air Force after high school, and you joined the Army, and the next few years you didn't see him much but were able to send him letters back and forth the whole time. He came back before you did, serving for only two tours compared to your three, but once the two of you were stateside again, you found a place in DC together.

  
The first few months were hard, to say the least. Sam had already started to get used to civilian life again, but you were struggling- big time. After a particularly difficult night, he suggested you go to one of the meetings at the VA with him, and so you did, and you started to get better. You didn't talk about your time overseas, mainly because most of it was classified and you were contractually obliged not to, but the rest you didn't want to talk about either. Sam never pushed, he knew you well enough not to, but over the next few years, you knew he grew continually worried about you, but you tried to ignore it and move on.

  
Now, three years later, the two of you had started to go on morning runs together around the city; it was an excellent way to stay in shape, create a routine, and not go stir crazy as a civilian. APPARENTLY, the ONE DAY you miss a run because you were visiting family out of state is the ONE DAY that motherfreaking STEVE ROGERS shows up.

         *******

 

"YOU HAVE TO BE SHITTING ME!" You scream into the phone, waving off your mother who was chastising you for your language in the background.

  
"Not shitting you man, Steve Rogers was a smart ass to me this morning by the capital building."

  
"You're fucking lying to me, Wilson, you better not be fucking lying to me!"

  
"I'm not lying! And if you keep going, I think your momma's gonna rinse your mouth out with soap," your mother, props to her, had given up on actually getting mad at you for your language after your first tour, but god forbid you cuss at all around her without getting yelled at.

  
"She's fine; I'd be more worried about you, ya dick!"

  
"Hey, why am I the dick! I didn't ask him to come the day you're gone!"

  
"Ugh," you groan and hop up onto the counter in your parent's kitchen, "Why did I have to be in North Carolina today! Of all the days!"

  
"Well, I did invite him to come to our next meeting at the VA so that you could get back up here before then? Maybe he'll show up?"

  
After agreeing, and saying your goodbyes, you hang up and lean back against the wall. Sure, Steve Rogers was 'Captian America,' but he was also the main reason you joined the Army. As a kid, you were tiny and sick and kind of a mess physically- bullies were attracted to you because you had no way of defending yourself against them. When you learned about Captian America in fifth grade, you went home and looked up Steve Rogers and saw him pre-serum, and that's when you knew you wanted to join the army. If some scrawny half-dead kid from Brooklyn could join and become Captian America, then why couldn't you?

  
Granted you never became "Captian America" or a Captian for that, but you made your way up to Master Sargent and saved a lot of people. Everything else that happened while you were active duty didn't matter, at least not to you and that's why you don't talk about it. You saved lives; the shitty extra stuff doesn't need any attention; you did what you set out to do, and now you were trying to figure out what to do next.


	2. Chapter 2

The VA was never your favorite place, too much pain and sadness for you, but watching Sam lead his meetings was something you really enjoyed. He understood people in a way you never understood, even before joining the military, he had a way of knowing what you felt before you did. No matter where Sam ended up in life, you knew this is where he would have ended up- helping people who needed it the most. You had joked at times that that's why he was your best friend because he got plenty of practice on you.

The day you got back to DC, you immediately interrogated Sam for details about meeting Steve Rogers.

"So, what was he like," You asked, sitting on the counter in your kitchen.

"Kind of a dick really." Sam proceeded to tell you what happened, from the consistent quips of 'on your left' to telling him about Marvin Gaye.

"I almost told him to try a fluffernutter, but I thought that would be a little too much for him."

"Dude!!! Fluffernutters are sooo much better than Troubleman!"

"First of all, I'm offended you would even say that to my face! Second of all, I didn't want to be super annoying and modern. I dunno I panicked." Sam moved to the fridge to make himself a sandwich and, so you could still see him, you got up on your knees and looked over the fridge door,

"And you say I would get all flustered in front of him! You told him to look up Troubleman!" Sam closed the door quickly causing you to lose balance; thankfully, you land on your feet.

"Asshole," you yell, jumping at him. Sam just laughs and quickly moves out of the way.

"Nice reflexes," you compliment, regaining your footing.

"Not like yours, but good enough."

"Whatever Wilson."

The two of you go to the VA a couple of hours later, and you hadn't forgotten about the invitation Same had given Steve Rogers to join, so for the first part of the meeting you were slightly on edge. You sat in the back row like you always did, not wanting to participate but still there for Sam and after the first few people shared, you had stopped thinking about the real-life superhero and spiraled into your own thoughts.

******

"SARGE!" you heard someone scream through the commotion.  
"SARGE!" again on your right; through the cloud of smoke, you could barely make out the shape of a body partially crushed underneath the rubble.

"MEDIC," you screamed, "I NEED A MEDIC!" Running towards the person you got down to try and move the debris off of them, but it was too heavy.   
"It's gonna be okay; there's a medic on the way, you're gonna be out of here soon."

******

"You good?" someone bumps your shoulder and shakes you out of your head. Someone new was up at the front talking; you were out of it for longer than you had thought.  
"Yeah," you look down at your hands," Just in my head again I guess," you whisper back and look up at the person next to you.

"I know how that feels." Even with the hat and glasses, there was no mistaking the person sitting next to you. The voice alone giving him away.

"You're Steve, right?" You ask, trying not to be too obvious about how much you know about him, "Sam said you might be coming." He laughs, looking amused, but nods.

"Yup, that's me."

You don't say anything else the rest of the meeting; you do spend the rest of the time trying not to look at him or make it super obvious that you had looked up to him for almost your entire life. As each new person goes to talk, you feel like they take longer and longer to finish, but try to pay attention anyway. Sam catches your eye at one point, but you just look away, knowing that you wouldn't be able to keep it together.

Finally, after what feels like hours, the meeting ends, and everyone slowly filters out until it's just you, Sam and Steve.

"Look who it is, the running man," Sam says, coming over to the two of you. Both you and Steve stand up, and Sam shakes Steve's hand while you stand there awkwardly.

"Caught the last few minutes, it's pretty intense." They drop hands, and then both slightly turn to you.

You introduce yourself to Steve, shaking his hand firmly.

"Nice to officially meet you," Steve says with a smile.

"Same to you." Part of you knew that he was an attractive man, but in person, he was so much more than that; you didn't stare at him, because you were raised better than that, but damn did you want to.

"Yeah, brotha we all go the same problems, guilt, regret," Sam says, pulling focus away from you, which is bittersweet, but you refocus back into the conversation.

"You lose someone?" Steve asks,

"my wingman Riley. Flying a night mission. Standard PG rescue op, nothing we hadn't done a thousand times before til an RPG knocked Rileys dumbass out of the sky. Nothin' I could do it's like I was up there just to watch." You had seen Sam talk about Riley before, and the more he talked about him, the less it seemed to affect Sam, but regardless you could still see the pain in his eyes as he talked about Riley.

"Sorry." Steve looked as if he knows how Sam felt. You slowly moved to start cleaning up, giving the boys their space but were close enough to keep listening.

"After that, I had a really hard time finding a reason for being over there ya know?"

"You happy now? Back in the world?"

"Hey, the number of people giving me orders is down to about 0 so hell yeah." You laugh under your breath, you knew the feeling, "You thinking about getting out?

"No," Steve said without thinking, then backtracked, "I don't know, to be honest. I don't know what I would do with myself if I did."

"Ultimate fighting? Just a great idea off the top of my head. Seriously you could do whatever you want to do." Sam offers.

"He like this with all the people that come around?" Steve asks you.

You just shrug and smile, "Only if they need the push." Steve seems to take that and looks back at Sam when he asks,  
"What makes you happy?"

He glances anywhere but at Sam for a second before replying, "I don't know."

"Well, you've got time to figure it out dontcha?"

The boys come and help you put the chairs away, and for a second, it's just you and Steve.   
"You know, you're the reason I joined the army," you say, not looking at Steve.

"Yeah?"

"You must get that a lot," you laugh, trying to figure out how to say this next part without looking like an idiot, "but, uh, when I learned about you in school- which must be super weird for you- but, when I found out you weren't like everyone else growing up- that you had a lot of medical issues yet still tried to join the army... It gave me hope, I guess?" He had stopped and just listened to you stutter out your explanation and was looking at you with a look that you couldn't decipher when you finally made eye contact with him.

"Why was that? If you don't mind me asking."

"Well, I had my share of problems growing up. For one, I was a girl, and no matter how much I wanted to fit in and hang out with the guys, it didn't matter because I was different. Then I got some medical issues of my own, besides just being real tiny- even for a girl. After I learned about you I started working out, playing sports, doing stuff like that and by high school I was working out with the football team and playing basketball..." you trailed off, "Um, anyways I joined the Army straight out of high school and made my way up to Master Sargent. So, I guess I'm trying to say thank you?" You tucked a piece of your hair behind your ear and tried not to smile too much as he smiled back at you.

"I guess you're welcome then."

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go! Another chapter and it's longer!!! If any of you would like to help Beta for me that would be so great, plus it would help me get chapters longer and out faster! Let me know if you want another chapter of this, in the comments! Thank you for reading and leaving Kudos, it really gives me the motivation to write more!


	3. Chapter 3

Steve didn't show up at any more meetings, but he was a busy guy- with saving the world and all that, so you didn't worry about it. Or at least that's what you told yourself. Most vets who show up a few times to these meetings and then disappear for a while are fine, but there are the few that don't show up because they're on benders or something worse... But this is Steve Rogers you're talking about, he can take care of himself.

One morning, after your run with Sam, the two of you get breakfast at this diner by your place, and by the way, he's been looking at you all morning, you know he wants to talk about something.

"Spit it out, Wilson."

For a second, he seems caught off guard- you aren't one to start these kinds of conversations- but he recovers quickly.

"What? My food?" You just stare at him, and he stares back at you.  
"Yeah, yeah okay," He takes a sip of his orange juice and continues, "You said some stuff the other day that I don't think I've ever heard come out of your mouth sober." He stops to take a bit of food but doesn't continue.

"And...?"

"All I'm saying is that I'm surprised you said what you said the other day, and to Steve Rogers of all people."

"What's that supposed to mean?" That definitely came out more accusatory than you had planned for, but Sam knew you didn't talk about shit like this, he knew you would get defensive.

"Nothing! Just took me off guard I guess?"

The two of you eat in silence for the next few minutes while you try to figure out what, if anything, you would respond to that with. By the time your coffee is cold, and all the food is eaten, you still hadn't thought of anything eloquent enough, so you decide to continue not talking.

Later that day you went to work at one of the animal shelters in town; you didn't technically work for them, but you helped out every so often at the different shelters because you loved animals. After you got out of the Army, you still wanted to help, but you weren't anything like Sam, and people were too much to deal with, so you decided to help animals instead. Some days it felt like you were actually making a difference, but other days it felt like no matter how many animals you saved, there would always be more that died. In a way, you guess it was similar to how you felt in the Army- on a bad day you would save ten guys, lose thirty, but on a good day you felt like you could save hundreds.

You weren't one of those vets who came back an adrenaline junkie, looking for new ways to feel the same as being deployed felt like; most of those guys ended up getting addicted to something or killing themselves, but you still had the urge to help make the world a better place. That's all you had ever wanted to do so when the opportunity arose to help these animals, you took it.

There were times where you would foster animals, bringing a litter of kittens home, and Sam would freak out, but he always grew to love them. By the time you found homes for them all, he had a harder time saying goodbye to them than you did. No matter if you fostered them, or just cared for them once before they were adopted, you loved them all the same. Any animal with a disability always won you over quickly because they were so strong and just wanted to be like the rest of the animals, sometimes they would get adopted, and sometimes they wouldn't, and that broke your heart. Unfortunately, you couldn't save every animal, but that didn't mean you didn't try.

Today, there wasn't much to do. There were no new animals, no one needed any special attention, and you had gotten there right after feeding, so you weren't needed for anything.

On your way back home, you called Sam.

"Hey, what's up?" Sam asked- you could hear him shuffling papers on his side of the line.

"Not much, I just wasn't needed to the shelter today, so I'm on my way home. Do you need me to pick anything up?"

"Nah, but you're making dinner tonight, right?"

"Fuck, I forgot... But yeah, I'll figure something out for tonight."

You quickly hang up and head to the grocery store to buy stuff for pasta- your "fuck I forgot I was making dinner" go-to meal, and then head back home.

While you were serving, your 'normal' was very different from your normal as a kid. When you were first starting out, your normal consisted of men yelling at you, some even trying to make you cry, pushing your body to the point of physical and mental exhaustion, and lots of guns. After your first tour, normal involved a lot more death and destruction. Alcohol was a constant no matter what your normal was, and that didn't exclude your civilian life now.

"Thank god we still had some whiskey in the house," Sam said, taking another sip of his drink.

"I know right, we'll have to pick up more next time were at the store."

"Sounds like a plan."

You're curled up next to Sam on the couch as the two of you eat dinner and catch up on TV shows, your current binging session included the end of Brooklyn 99 Season 6.

"I doubt being a police officer is anything like how they portray it on this show," Sam scoffs as a character does another dumb stunt.

"Well, of course not, it's a TV show! But it's probably more true to life than like NCIS," you retort, scooping up more pasta from your plate.

"I guess, but I feel like their relationships don't happen in normal precincts. I mean maybe a few, but I don't think this is realistic."

"It's a TV show, Wilson! Just shut up and enjoy it."

"Fine, fine, but I still don't think it's even close to what a real NYPD Precin-" You cut him off by throwing a pillow towards him, but he dodges it before it can hit him- "Hey! You almost hit my food!"

"Shut up, man!" you laugh and focus back on the show. At times like this, it felt like you were back in high school, chilling out in his parent's basement eating his moms cooking and watching dumb TV shows before you had to go home. You never wanted these moments to end, but the real world caught up to you eventually, and this time, a little bit more harshly than you would have anticipated.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for all the comments and Kudos!! I am so excited to keep writing this; let me know in the comments what you think of the new chapter! Thank you to Lbuxs for looking it over and helping me get motivated to write this! Hope you guys like it.


End file.
